Braxis Holdout Map Guide
Welcome to our strategy guide for Braxis Holdout, a Map in Heroes of the Storm. On this page, you will find everything required to understand how it is designed and how to play it.
Introduction
Braxis Holdout is a 2-lane Map belonging to the Starcraft universe. The signature Objective of this Map are Beacons that reward Zerg Waves. The team who wins the Objective will get a 100% power Zerg Wave, the other team will get a less powerful one.
Draft Strategy
- Gankers
- Global presence
- Point control for Boss Camp
- Point control for Objective
- Quests to stack on Heroes
- Strong early game
- Sustain damage/healing
- High Waveclear
- Burst healing
- Mana-intensive Heroes
- Weak early game
Lane Assignments
Here you can find one or more formations that are viable on this Map. Keep in mind that positions in lane are not strict and will often change based on the situation.
Formation 1-4
The go-to formation for Braxis Holdout is 1-4:
- 1 Hero, the Offlaner covers the top lane;
- 4 Heroes cover the bottom lane.
Use this formation to counter the 1-3-1 formation.
Formation 2-3
Another good formation for Braxis Holdout is 2-3:
- 2 Heroes with tools to overwhelm the enemy Offlaner cover the top lane;
- 3 Heroes with tools to stop a push cover the bottom lane.
Use this strategy to counter the 1-4 formation.
Formation 1-3-1
Another good formation for Braxis Holdout is 1-3-1:
- 1 Hero, the Offlaner covers the top lane;
- 3 Heroes constantly roam between the bottom and the top lanes;
- 1 Hero, the Anchor, covers the bottom lane.
Use this strategy to counter the 2-3 formation.
Map Strategy
- At 1:00 minute or right after the Zerg Waves die, start clearing the allied Bruiser Camp and capture it as soon as possible. To make this Mercenary Camp join the lane behind allied Minions, capture it at 1:20 minutes or 20 seconds after a wave of Minions spawned.
- After that, start clearing the allied Siege Camp and capture it as soon as possible. To make this Mercenary Camp join the lane in front of allied Minions, capture it at 1:40 minutes or 10 seconds after a wave of Minions spawned.
- At 1:30 minutes or whenever Beacons activate, make sure to have a durable Hero on each of them. Secure at least one Beacon and keep control of it for as much as possible without dying. Then, whenever your team gets an advantage, capture the other Beacon to get progress and thus make your Zerg Wave more powerful. On the other hand, if the enemy team has an advantage, you should retreat.
- If your team wins the Objective with a big difference (such as 100% against 25%), you should push with the allied Zerg Wave. If it is the first Zerg Wave of the game and it is still early game, the Offlaner can keep soaking.
- If your team wins the Objective with a small difference (such as 100% against 75%), you should defend from the enemy Zerg Wave unless you can destroy the enemy Core with it. If it is the first Zerg Wave of the game and it is still early game, the Offlaner can keep soaking.
- If your team loses the Objective with a big difference (such as 25% against 100%), you should defend allied Structures from the enemy Zerg Wave. If it is the first Zerg Wave of the game and it is still early game, of the game, the Offlaner can keep soaking.
- If your team loses the Objective with a small difference (such as 75% against 100%), you should defend allied Structures from the enemy Zerg Wave unless you can destroy the enemy Core with it. If it is the first Zerg Wave of the game and it is still early game, of the game, the Offlaner can keep soaking.
- After 10:00 minutes, whenever your team has an advantage while there is no Objective to contest, you can capture the Boss Camp and push with it. Avoid doing it earlier if you do not have a dedicated team composition.
Mercenary Camps
As shown in the image below, Braxis Holdout has a total of 5 Mercenary Camps:
- 1 allied/enemy Bruiser Camp and 1 allied/enemy Siege Camp in the top lane;
- 1 neutral Boss Camp in the middle of the battlefield;
- 1 allied/enemy Siege Camp and 1 allied/enemy Bruiser Camp in the bottom lane.
Mercenary Camps on Braxis Holdout disappear from the battlefield once the Zergs begin spawning and reappear only after all Zergs have been killed.
Mercenary Camps indicated with a red icon are immune to Bribe effects.
Siege Camp
This type of Mercenary Camp features 2 Hellbats. Once captured, it spawns the same units fighting for your team in the corresponding lane. When possible, push with them to get more value.
Spawn | Respawn |
---|---|
1:00 minute | 3:00 minutes after its last capture |
Hellbats reduce the Armor of enemy Structures and Heroes hit by their cleaving Basic Attacks for 3 seconds by 4 Armor per Basic Attack, stacking 5 times, for a maximum of 20 Armor reduction.
Bruiser Camp
This type of Mercenary Camp features 3 Goliaths and 1 Raven. Once captured, it spawns the same units fighting for your team in the corresponding lane. When possible, push with them to get more value.
Spawn | Respawn |
---|---|
1:00 minute | 4:00 minutes after its last capture |
Ravens do not use Basic Attacks. Instead, they fire a Seeker Missile (5-second cooldown) which Reveals the targeted Hero and damages them upon impact. Ravens deal only 20 (not scaling) damage per second whereas Goliaths deal 40 (+1 per minute) damage per second.
Boss Camp
This type of Mercenary Camp features 1 Archangel. Once captured, it spawns the same unit fighting for your team in the lane where enemy Structures have the least amount of damage taken in total. When possible, push with it to get more value.
Spawn | Respawn |
---|---|
5:00 minutes | 5:00 minutes after its last capture |
While in combat, the Archangel will use Mortar (3-second cooldown) to fire a delayed projectile at an enemy and Bullet Storm (16-second cooldown) to fire a barrel of missiles in a large rectangular area towards the closest enemy.
Globe Generators
Braxis Holdout features 2 Globes Generators: one above the top lane and another below the bottom lane. They are positioned in a way that does not allow Heroes who are controlling the nearby Beacon to easily pick up a Regeneration Globe from them.
Spawn | Respawn |
---|---|
30 seconds | 45 seconds after picking up a generated Regeneration Globe |
Globe Generators periodically spawns a neutral Regeneration Globe. Unlike other Regeneration Globes, generated ones do not disappear with time. Try to pick them up when possible or the enemy team will get them.
Map Objective
The signature Objective of Braxis Holdout consists of Beacons that reward Zerg Waves. Heroes can claim Beacons to gain progress until they get pushed out of them. Capturing a Beacon takes 3 seconds if it is neutral, or 6 seconds if the enemy team has control over it.
Spawn | Respawn |
---|---|
1:30 minutes | 2:10 minutes after the Zerg Waves die |
Capture the Beacons
Periodically two beacons will activate. Capture both to fill your Holding Cell with Zerg.
|
Fill Holding Cells
Once either Holding Cell fills, both open and unleash waves of Zerg at each team's base.
|
Zerg Waves
Hold out against the enemy's Zerg while helping yours. The Zerg will attack Heroes, so engage cautiously.
|
Beacons progress by 2% every 0.75 seconds, so going straight from 0% to 100% takes almost 40 seconds. Whenever a team reaches 100% progress, the Objective phase ends and each team gets a Zerg Wave whose strength is proportional to that team's progress.
If you step on a Beacon that is being controlled by the enemy team while an enemy Hero is on it, you will not be able to stop the enemy team from getting progress. You need to push them out!
Based on each team's progress, the respective Zerg Waves will have:
- 10 Zerglings;
- 0 Banelings (+1 every 10% progress);
- 2 Hydralisks (+1 every 24% progress);
- 1 Guardian (+1 every 30% progress);
- 1 Ultralisk (+1 every 45% progress).
Zerg Waves will spawn in opposite lanes (starting randomly and then alternating for the rest of the game). They prioritize Minions and Structures, but can also attack Heroes. Whenever they attack, Guardians and Ultralisks spawn Drop Pods (13-second cooldown) with 3 Zerglings and 1 Hydralisk. Banelings explode on hit for heavy damage but have low Health.
Core Ability
Every 4 seconds, the Core will shoot 5 Missiles at a nearby enemy Hero, dealing 5% maximum Health as damage per missile.
Win Conditions
To win the game on Braxis Holdout, you should count on any of the following win conditions:
- Map Objective,
- Boss Camp.
Tips and Tricks
- Avoid using the Healing Fountain (2-minute cooldown) early because the first Objective on this Map activates at 30 seconds, which is way lower than the Healing Fountain's cooldown.
- If your Hero has an Ability which allows them to jump over impassable terrain, you can use it to quickly rotate from a lane to another.
- Choose when to contest a Beacon and when to retreat depending on which team has an advantage in that area. If they commit top, try to get bottom (and vice versa).
- Heroes with good waveclear are the best for defending from enemy Zerg Waves, so you should prefer sending them on that lane, especially when the enemy team gets a lot of progress.
Changelog
- 06 Dec. 2024: Guide created.
Elitesparkle is a multiple times Master player in Europe who plays Heroes of the Storm since its release. He is an active member of the community who likes to teach new and veteran players all he knows about his favorite game.
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